The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 08, 2026
Filed:
Jun. 16, 2022
Yusuke Mitani, Kanagawa, JP;
Shotaro Hoshi, Kanagawa, JP;
Yusuke Mitani, Kanagawa, JP;
Shotaro Hoshi, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes an image bearer, a transfer member, a cleaning member, and a control unit. The transfer member contacts the image bearer to form a transfer nip and transfer a toner image on the image bearer to a recording medium at the transfer nip. The cleaning member cleans a surface of the image bearer. The control unit executes a cleaning operation of moving an extraneous matter adhering to the transfer member to the image bearer to clean the transfer member. The control unit executes the cleaning operation after a toner image pattern that is not transferred to the recording medium passes through the transfer nip and before the recording medium enters the transfer nip.